CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NEWS RELEASE 2800 BERLIN TURNPIKE P.O. BOX 317546 NEWINGTON CONNECTICUT, 06131-7456

FOR RELEASE: October 17, 2012

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS TELEPHONE: (860) 594-3062 FAX: (860) 594-3065 WEB SITE: www.ct.gov/dot

Connecticut Awarded $275,000 Texting Enforcement Ban Demonstration Grant from U.S. Department of Transportation

      The Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) has received a $275,000 grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for enforcement efforts against texting while driving, one of the fastest growing highway safety issues in the country.

      “The State of Connecticut and the DOT’s Highway Safety Office continue to be a national leader and role model in the enforcement and education of motorists for this deadly and wholly preventable behavior,” said DOT Commissioner James P. Redeker, noting that, nationally, some 3,000 fatalities were attributed to distracted driving in 2010.

      Connecticut was one of two of 39 eligible states in the nation to receive a Texting Ban Demonstration Project Grant award in the amount of $275,000 from the federal government via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency within the US DOT.

      This grant will be used in conjunction with NHTSA to execute a High Visibility Enforcement Demonstration program beginning in 2013 that will focus on stopping and citing motorists who are in violation of the state’s cell phone and texting laws. Towns where the enforcement will take place have not yet been identified. The funding will also be allocated to resources to educate the motoring public about the dangers of texting while driving through paid media buys and outreach, as well as evaluating the results of the program on the number of drivers observed texting while driving.

      This demonstration project marks the second time the Highway Safety Office has received an incentive grant available only to two states. The current texting ban enforcement demonstration builds on the successful outcomes attained during the first distracted driving pilot in 2009-2010 known as “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other.”